Corus 2008 Round 9
The game of the day was obviously Topalov's knight sack 12.Nxf7 winning in style against V.Kramnik. The computers suggested Topalov had sufficient compensation for the piece and after Kramnik seemed to miss the most promising continuation, Topalov soon got a winning position having reclaimed the material and continuing to attack. He chose to leave his queen a prix on f7 and take on d5, followed by Rxc6+ and Nxf7 and was still winning. Just after 40 moves Kramnik resigned in a hopeless position.
A lot of on site spectators follow the games live from the sideline and on monitors.
Magnus was fit for fight today and faced Leko with the black pieces.
Leko again chose 1.e4 (indicating that Magnus have left the impression that his repertoire against e4 could well be improved upon).
They played the Ruy Lopez and Magnus went for the Breyer variation. After 15....a5 Leko thought for more than 30 minutes before 16.Bd2.
Magnus' queen side pawns looked exposed but he felt comfortable line after 18....d5.
However after the mistake 20...Bxb4? white may win a pawn.
Leko chose a move order giving Magnus the possibility to choose between giving up a pawn the complications arising in the game. Magnus ended up with 2 knights against a rook and two pawns. He was worse because of the white free pawns on a2, b3 and d4 but had some counterplay against the weakened white king. Magnus found a good continuation and had a drawn position just before the time control.
He spent most of his remaining time on 33....Qb4 (which is good) and after 34.Re7 the computers give many drawing lines.
After 4 checks on d5 and d1 Leko avoided a repeat. Magnus could have played Qd4 and it is hard to see how white is better. However, Magnus had planned 39....Qf3?? long way back and played it with 20 seconds left on the clock, blundering the knight on b6. 1-0.
Too many mistakes by Magnus, but due to Kramnik's loss and Aronian, Radjabov and Anand drawing their games, Magnus is still co-leading with Aronian at +2 with 4 rounds to go. Anand, Kramnik, Radjabov and Adams (beating van Wely) is in contention at +1 and we should also include Topalov at 50% as one of the outsiders to win.
Movsesian (6,5) and Caruana (7,0!) is still leading the B and C groups.
Tomorrow Magnus has another black against van Wely.
Henrik Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 22th, 2008
A lot of on site spectators follow the games live from the sideline and on monitors.
Magnus was fit for fight today and faced Leko with the black pieces.
Leko again chose 1.e4 (indicating that Magnus have left the impression that his repertoire against e4 could well be improved upon).
They played the Ruy Lopez and Magnus went for the Breyer variation. After 15....a5 Leko thought for more than 30 minutes before 16.Bd2.
Magnus' queen side pawns looked exposed but he felt comfortable line after 18....d5.
However after the mistake 20...Bxb4? white may win a pawn.
Leko chose a move order giving Magnus the possibility to choose between giving up a pawn the complications arising in the game. Magnus ended up with 2 knights against a rook and two pawns. He was worse because of the white free pawns on a2, b3 and d4 but had some counterplay against the weakened white king. Magnus found a good continuation and had a drawn position just before the time control.
He spent most of his remaining time on 33....Qb4 (which is good) and after 34.Re7 the computers give many drawing lines.
After 4 checks on d5 and d1 Leko avoided a repeat. Magnus could have played Qd4 and it is hard to see how white is better. However, Magnus had planned 39....Qf3?? long way back and played it with 20 seconds left on the clock, blundering the knight on b6. 1-0.
Too many mistakes by Magnus, but due to Kramnik's loss and Aronian, Radjabov and Anand drawing their games, Magnus is still co-leading with Aronian at +2 with 4 rounds to go. Anand, Kramnik, Radjabov and Adams (beating van Wely) is in contention at +1 and we should also include Topalov at 50% as one of the outsiders to win.
Movsesian (6,5) and Caruana (7,0!) is still leading the B and C groups.
Tomorrow Magnus has another black against van Wely.
Henrik Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 22th, 2008
Comments:
Posted by: Sam
Hi Henrik, thanks for all the interesting updates so far.
Despite the loss today, Magnus has played extremely well so far this tournament and still has a good chance of winning! I'm sure he will put the loss today behind him and play a good game tomorrow, in which I wish him all the best.
Despite the loss today, Magnus has played extremely well so far this tournament and still has a good chance of winning! I'm sure he will put the loss today behind him and play a good game tomorrow, in which I wish him all the best.
Posted by: Muzzy
Hehe.. A pity about the loss, but who cares. The game was highly entertaining, and sometimes the margins are with the other guy. At his age learning should be the objective and not winning the strongest tournaments in the world. But at +3 of course we all get carried away. He is obviously much stronger compared to last years Corus and probably capable of winning the whole thing as well. Thanks for many very interesting games and keep on fighting! The only way to learn and improve.
By the way, my impression is that Magnus' style is a lot more positional now than before. If it really has changed did it transform by it self, or was it a conscious decision? Great for me anyway. I am a big fan of Karpov.
Hmm.. Anand and Kamnik are still ahead. Whew, thats going to be tough! Good luck for the last part of the tournament!
By the way, my impression is that Magnus' style is a lot more positional now than before. If it really has changed did it transform by it self, or was it a conscious decision? Great for me anyway. I am a big fan of Karpov.
Hmm.. Anand and Kamnik are still ahead. Whew, thats going to be tough! Good luck for the last part of the tournament!
Posted by: Caissa
A pity that Magnus lost today, but I think he played well until time pressure started to make things difficult for him.
I still hope Magnus will finish among the top 4 players, and that's quite an achievement given the extraordinary tough opponents in this tournament.
Here's what Kasparov had to say about Magnus's play (from Chessbase.com):
"Watching the game on Playchess Garry Kasparov expressed approval with the performance of "the kid", whom he had sent tow of his books a few years back and in fact met for a training session in Norway. "He is really quite extraordinary," he told us, "a superb talent." This game was a well-played draw, since Magnus had keep checking, and if the king moved to h2 he could play ...Qd4! The game continued 36...Qd1+ 37.Kg2 Qd5+ 38.Kg1 Qd1+ "Leko is saving some time," Kasparov said, "now he will move to h2." 39.Kh2. "Okay, the kid will find ...Qd4, lets go to another game." 39...Qf3?? "What?? Oh dear, he blew it. He broke under the pressure." Actually under time pressure: Magnus had just 20 seconds left on his clock. 40.Qxb6 Qf4+ 1-0."
I still hope Magnus will finish among the top 4 players, and that's quite an achievement given the extraordinary tough opponents in this tournament.
Here's what Kasparov had to say about Magnus's play (from Chessbase.com):
"Watching the game on Playchess Garry Kasparov expressed approval with the performance of "the kid", whom he had sent tow of his books a few years back and in fact met for a training session in Norway. "He is really quite extraordinary," he told us, "a superb talent." This game was a well-played draw, since Magnus had keep checking, and if the king moved to h2 he could play ...Qd4! The game continued 36...Qd1+ 37.Kg2 Qd5+ 38.Kg1 Qd1+ "Leko is saving some time," Kasparov said, "now he will move to h2." 39.Kh2. "Okay, the kid will find ...Qd4, lets go to another game." 39...Qf3?? "What?? Oh dear, he blew it. He broke under the pressure." Actually under time pressure: Magnus had just 20 seconds left on his clock. 40.Qxb6 Qf4+ 1-0."
Posted by: Martin
Nothing really significant happened in my eyes, despite this evidently needless loss...
Kind regards from Freiburg/Germany
Kind regards from Freiburg/Germany
Posted by: U.S. Chess Fan
Tournament chess is brutal. After nine rounds, and especially at this level, it's amazing that players don't make more mistakes.
I'm pulling for Magnus to win this tournament!
I'm pulling for Magnus to win this tournament!
Posted by: joanna
Round 10 result:
PHEW!!!!
PHEW!!!!
Posted by: Samuel
Så sejt!!
Posted by: Vidar
Runde 10.
Jeg smiler og ler om hverandre. Magnus har en fantastisk guts !!!
Ha, ha...... :-) Dette fortente du etter selv å ha misset en klar remis i 9. runde. Du må jo selv glise fra øre til øre etter en slik slutt ! Ikke det at jeg er noen trollman med brikkene, jeg må bruke Frizt som alle andre, men dette skulle vel nesten ikke være mulig :-)
JIPPPIIIIIIIIIII !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeg smiler og ler om hverandre. Magnus har en fantastisk guts !!!
Ha, ha...... :-) Dette fortente du etter selv å ha misset en klar remis i 9. runde. Du må jo selv glise fra øre til øre etter en slik slutt ! Ikke det at jeg er noen trollman med brikkene, jeg må bruke Frizt som alle andre, men dette skulle vel nesten ikke være mulig :-)
JIPPPIIIIIIIIIII !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: finn
great
job...it's more than one way to skin a cat!
job...it's more than one way to skin a cat!
Posted by: Caiss
Incredible that Magnus managed to play 7 moves in under 1 minute and still outplay Loek before time control.
Magnus was lucky to win a lost game today, but he was unlucky yesterday against Leko. So his win today wasn't totally undeserved in this respect.
6.5/10 is impressive, and he's got two white games in the three last rounds (his opponents are Anand, Kramnik and Radjabov). This is going to be a very exciting chess weekend! Good luck Magnus!
Magnus was lucky to win a lost game today, but he was unlucky yesterday against Leko. So his win today wasn't totally undeserved in this respect.
6.5/10 is impressive, and he's got two white games in the three last rounds (his opponents are Anand, Kramnik and Radjabov). This is going to be a very exciting chess weekend! Good luck Magnus!
Posted by: Kramnatopakov
Posted by: Kampfgeist
What a crazy turnaround in round 10. How much time did they have around move 35?
Anyway, it's good Magnus won it and became the sole leader again. Good luck in the final 3 rounds!
Anyway, it's good Magnus won it and became the sole leader again. Good luck in the final 3 rounds!
Posted by: Yngvar Hartvigsen
Blitz:
Aronian -0.5
Leko -0.5
Wely +1.0
so in the end it equals out.
But with the introduction of a great element of chance/luck/randomnes in blitz, it should only be used by the player with inferior position (as today), never by the player with a winning position (as against Aronian)!
As Magnus has always played his best games against the best opponents, I suppose he will be much more concentrated in the last 3 rounds.
With the ambition of 6.5 (50%) already fullfilled, any points in the rest of the tournament is a clear bonus.
Good luck!
yh
Aronian -0.5
Leko -0.5
Wely +1.0
so in the end it equals out.
But with the introduction of a great element of chance/luck/randomnes in blitz, it should only be used by the player with inferior position (as today), never by the player with a winning position (as against Aronian)!
As Magnus has always played his best games against the best opponents, I suppose he will be much more concentrated in the last 3 rounds.
With the ambition of 6.5 (50%) already fullfilled, any points in the rest of the tournament is a clear bonus.
Good luck!
yh
Posted by: Caiss
Kampfgeist : At move 35 Loek had 2 minutes left. Magnus had only seconds left. The official online clock showed 0 minutes for Magnus already at move 33.
Posted by: David S
Wow, great stuff
today!
Magnus "yanked the ball right out of Loek's arms", with seconds left.
Super bowl winner? No , but Wijk aan Zee 2008 is looking good. Go Magnus Go!!
today!
Magnus "yanked the ball right out of Loek's arms", with seconds left.
Super bowl winner? No , but Wijk aan Zee 2008 is looking good. Go Magnus Go!!
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